Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This just doesn't work. Companies have to take a lot into consideration when having people work remotely from other jurisdictions, and it's just not worth it for one guy working a U.S.-focused job while living in Europe. It's not impossible, of course, but you'd have to be an in-demand, highly specialized exceptional contributor for them to make it happen.
It likely the tax/legal issues dealing with different locals. The company I work for (small) has employees from different states. Every time a new employee is hired from a different state, that's an extra set of taxes that needs to be handled. I'm sure the accounting software will handle it, but it's still something to deal with. Even something as small as labor law posters need to be addressed.
If you're talking an entirely different country - you're potentially dealing with a whole new set of legal issues. Someone mentioned GDPR, this is a huge burden if you aren't already within that scope. And most will feel it's not worth it.
I'm sure the time difference is a factor - albeit that may be a smaller concern for some (e.g. east coast companies vs. west coast).
I worked at a place (remotely) where someone indicated a former employee hid the fact that he had moved abroad and somehow tried to keep working remotely without notifying his employer. I can't remember the specifics but somehow they found out and, of course, terminated him.
Interesting. Can you provide any more details? What type of work was this? Was he a US citizen?
How do US employers know your physical location is in US or not?
For one thing, if the employer is complying with tax and employment laws, you will have to fill out forms with your physical address and provide identification that would likely indicate your current place of residence. If you attempted to get around this by providing false information (for example, a relative's address), it is likely you would face immediate termination by the employer if and when they find out.
Rather than attempting to hide your location, you might want to consider applying but explaining that you are a US citizen but located elsewhere, to see if the employer would allow it. However, I agree that most employers will not want to deal with the potential legal compliance concerns that come with operating in a foreign country unless you have special expertise that would make it difficult to hire another "you" who is located in the US. Even state law compliance issues can be a real PIA for smaller employers that are not already operating in all the states where they have employees.
In addition to all of the above, some types of data are restricted from leaving the country (e.g., a lot of health care data). Also, the US companies likely don't want to have to learn and/or comply with the employment laws in another country, which would likely apply regardless of where the company itself is based.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markjames68
GDPR in Europe and the labor laws are definitely major concerns.
Even if OP agreed to work on a European holiday for no extra money to align with the US I’d bet the country’s labor authority wouldn’t.
Also, unless the company already had a presence and office in that country it’s a huge burden to now have to deal with the red tape and paperwork.
Yes, I was going to say GDPR. I can't believe how much this has complicated my worklife in the past couple of years. I can't imagine a company voluntarily bringing itself under the authority of the EU and this regulation just to hire an individual applicant based in the EU.
In addition to all of the above, some types of data are restricted from leaving the country (e.g., a lot of health care data). Also, the US companies likely don't want to have to learn and/or comply with the employment laws in another country, which would likely apply regardless of where the company itself is based.
+1
It's a whole extra set of rules that a US company doesn't want to deal with unless they are trying to establish a presence in the country. European rules are more strict so it's more expensive to pay for employees based there.
ITAR and US Export compliance can also be another reason. A US based company does not want to risk having their digital content put at risk that it puts them in the cross hairs of the Fed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
